Rockets seeing Howard return to form just in time for playoffs

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NEW ORLEANS – The Rockets wanted – and needed – a win, and Dwight Howard was no different. Except he needed more.

Just as time was running out on the Rockets’ pursuit of home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, he was down to his final opportunities to return to postseason speed. His first game back – Saturday’s comeback victory over undermanned New Orleans – might have been enough for Howard to feel his troublesome left ankle was ready to let him get back to work, but he knew how much work needed to be done.

After two weeks out with a strained left ankle and two procedures to drain fluid from the area left sore by the cyst that had developed, his timing was off. He was late in pursuit of rebounds. His offensive moves were out of rhythm.

All of that was to be expected after he missed 11 of 13 games, and Howard said he was certain he would be ready by this weekend. Still, as soon as Monday’s game against the Spurs began, Howard chased his own excellence with every bit the determination the Rockets had brought to the game itself.

He made his first six shots, flashing quick moves to the rim. He grabbed six rebounds before he sat late in the first quarter. He finished with 20 points and 17 rebounds, going 9-of-11 from the field in 31 minutes. The Rockets beat the Spurs to clinch the No. 4 seed and make Wednesday’s rematch against the Pelicans meaningless.

“I feel like I was in a better rhythm,” Howard said of Monday’s performance. “I am going to continue to get in shape and to get my wind back so I can do more things on the floor.”

No holding back

Pat Beverley matched his career high with 20 points on Saturday against the Pelicans, hitting consecutive 3-pointers to help key the fourth-quarter rally. He had 12 points against the Spurs, misfiring from the 3-point line but scoring five quick points to start another fourth-quarter run to the win.

Howard, however, immediately jettisoned any tentativeness he had in his first game back. Teammates looked to him early, getting him the deep touches that are always the goal and important but had become a way to speed up the process of getting Howard going. But more than just seeing him score and rebound more aggressively, they saw – and heard – him take on the game more like himself.

“It’s huge,” Chandler Parsons said of Howard’s quickly bouncing back. “We had to get him the ball, get him some easy looks, get him back going. It’s going to take some time, but he’s a pro. He’s been doing this for a long time. It didn’t take him a long time to get back going.

“He had his swagger back. He was chirping at the refs, yelling at us. Everything was good. He’s back.”

All about the postseason

But Howard didn’t join the Rockets to finish fourth, beat the Spurs’ backups or enjoy a season in ways he hadn’t during his lone year with the Lakers. That and more has all been accomplished, but the plan was to win in the postseason, a goal that seemed in jeopardy as the Rockets staggered to the finish.

Still, it has been weeks since the Rockets put together a complete game, needing late rallies to beat the injury-depleted Nuggets and Pelicans and the rest-minded Spurs. But just as Howard’s arrival in Houston inspired confidence of the kind of postseason run long absent from Houston, his return and the Rockets’ play through stretches around him offered reminders of those possibilities.

“He changes the game,” Jeremy Lin said. “We get a lot of open layups because people are unwilling to help off him. Trying to get him established, trying to get him mentally going, was an important point for us. He looked great. I thought he was the most dominant player on the floor.”

Not out of woods yet

That sort of play could be key against the Trail Blazers. In four games against Portland this season, Howard averaged 25.5 points and 10.5 rebounds, making 63.3 percent of his shots.

It remains to be seen how his ankle stands up to the postseason grind, although Omer Asik’s strong play while Howard was out will allow coach Kevin McHale to keep Howard to the 32 minutes he played on Monday and could allow him to play his centers together, as he did with great success in the Rockets’ early-season win at Portland. Howard could also benefit from returning to practice, having not taken part in a team workout in three weeks.

The Rockets are just happy to worry about how to play two centers or what to accomplish in practice, now that they believe they do not need to concern themselves with Howard’s return to form.

“It took a couple games, but right now I think he is playing really well,” Terrence Jones said. “He looks 100 percent. It’s great to be playing next to him again.”